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AN   HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


OP 


IE    PAPER   MONEY 


;:D  BY 


TOGETHER    WITH    A 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF   ALL   THE   DATE-  .MOUNTS, 

DENOMINATIONS,    AND   SIGNERS. 


BY  A  MEMBER  OF  THE  NUMISMATIC  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


na 


PHILADELPHIA : 

PUBLISHED  BY  A.  C.  KLINE,  No.  824  WALNUT  STREET. 

1862. 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


OF 


ISSUED   BY 


TOGETHER    WITH    A 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF  ALL   THE   DATES,   ISSUES,  AMOUNTS, 
DENOMINATIONS,    AND   SIGNERS. 


BY  A  MEMBER  0¥  THE  NUMISMATIC  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

PUBLISHED  BY  A.  C.  KLINE,  No.  824  WALNUT  STREET. 
1862. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1862,  by 
THE    AUTHOR, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


PREFACE. 


Inquiry  has,  within  the  last  few  years,  been  turned  to  the  subject  of 
the  paper  money  issued  by  the  American  Colonies,  and  many  persons 
are  engaged  in  forming  collections  of  specimens;  by  them,  the  want  of 
such  a  book  as  this  is  designed  to  be,  is  much  felt,  and  to  them  the 
author  (or  compiler,)  believes  it  will  prove  a  great  help.  It  is  the  first 
of  a  series  he  contemplates  preparing  on  the  issues  of  the  Colonies  and 
of  the  United  States ;  and  although  the  ground  is  new.  it  is  believed 
there  are  no  material  errors  in  the  present  production. 

In  conclusion,  the  author  would  acknowledge  his  obligations  to  kind 
friends,  both  in  this  and  other  cities,  who  have  greatly  assisted  him  in 
his  self-imposed  task,  and  without  whose  aid  he  probably  might  never 
have  been  able  to  complete  his  undertaking. 

H.  P.,  Jr. 

Philadelphia,  March  29,  1862. 


INDEX. 


PREFACE, 3 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH, 7 

LIST  OF  ISSUES,  &c .        .        .27 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH,  &c. 


Pennsylvania  lingered  long  behind  her  sister  colonies 
in  the  emission  of  paper  money ;  not  until  after  many 
years  had  elapsed,  during  which  they  had  experienced 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a  paper  circulating 
medium  founded  upon  the  Public  Credit,  did  she  venture 
to  take  upon  herself  such  a  responsibility.  Nor  did  she 
rashly  or  unadvisedly  set  herself  to  the  task  ;  the  fate 
that  had  befallen  the  notes  issued  by  the  New  England 
Colonies,  and  by  the  Carolinas,  and  the  great  losses  caused 
by  their  depreciation,  warned  her  against  yielding  too 
much  to  the  prevalent  mania  for  a  paper  currency,  and, 
as  prudence  guided  her  rulers,  she,  till  a  late  period, 
was  free  from  the  calamitous  events  which  excessive 
and  ill-guarded  issues  brought  upon  the  others.  To 
show  how  cautiously  she  proceeded,  the  early  history 
will  be  dilated  upon  at  some  length,  but  no  greater 
space  will  be  occupied  than  its  importance  deserves. 

From  the  year  1721  a  paper  currency  had  been  con- 
templated and  discussed,  but  it  was  not  until  two  years 
afterwards  that  active  measures  were  taken  to  produce 
one. 

On  the  second  of  January,  A.  D.  1723,  a  petition  was 
presented  to  the  House  of  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania 


8 

from  a  number  of  merchants  and  others,  inhabitants  of 
the  City  of  Philadelphia,  setting  forth  "  that  they  were 
sensibly  aggrieved  in  their  estates  and  dealings  to  the 
great  loss  and  growing  ruin  of  themselves,  and  the  evident 
decay  of  the  Province  in  general,  for  want  of  a  medium 
to  buy  and  sell  with"  and  praying  that  a  paper  currency 
might  be  established. 

On  the  eighth  of  the  same  month,  the  House  resolved 
"  that  it  was  necessary  that  a  quantity  of  paper  money, 
founded  on  a  good  scheme,  should  be  struck  and 
imprinted,"  and  the  same  time  fixed  the  value  of  the 
dollar  at  five  shillings.  Several  interchanges  of  opinion 
took  place  between  the  Assembly  and  the  Governor, 
resulting,  on  the  twenty-second  of  March,  1723,  in  the 
passage  of  an  act  for  emitting  fifteen  thousand  pounds. 
Knowing  that  an  over  issue  produced  depreciation,  and 
that  depreciation  was  the  great  danger  to  be  guarded 
against,  with  the  warning  examples  constantly  before 
their  eyes,  at  first  they  were  content  with  emitting  but 
this  moderate  sum. 

The  Bills  were  to  be  loaned  out  on  land  security  or 
plate  of  treble  value,  (at  five  shillings  per  ounce,)  depo- 
sited at  the  Loan  Office,  and  at  five  per  cent,  interest ; 
they  were  made  a  tender  in  payments  of  all  kinds,  under 
penalty  of  voiding  the  debt,  or  forfeiting  the  commodity, 
and  annual  payments  were  to  be  made  of  the  interest, 
together  with  one-eighth  of  the  principal.  To  sign 
them,  four  gentlemen  were  appointed,  for  which  service 
they  were  each  to  receive  twenty  pounds.  A  Loan 
Office  for  their  emission  was  created,  and  Samuel  Car- 
penter, Jeremiah  Langhorne,  William  Fishbourne,* 

*  At  a  later  period  (Feb.  2,  1731)  William  Fishbourne  *as  discharged  from 
his  office  for  fraud  and  embezzlement. 


and  Nathaniel  Newlin,  were  appointed  Trustees,  to  be 
paid  annually  a  salary  of  fifty  pounds  each. 

The  preamble  of  the  act  recites  the  difficulties  under 
which  the  Colony  labored  for  want  of  a  currency,  and 
the  act  itself  gives  full  particulars,  together  with  the 
form  of  the  Bill,  as  follows : 

"  THIS  Indented  Bill  of  ....  current  money  of  Am- 
erica according  to  the  act  of  Parliament  made  in  the 
sixth  year  of  the  late  Queen  ANNE  for  ascertaining  the 
rates  of  foreign  coins  in  the  Plantations  due  from  the  Pro- 
vince of  Pennsylvania  to  the  Possessor  thereof  shall  be  in 
Value  equal  to  money  and  be  accepted  accordingly  by  the 
Provincial  Treasurer,  County  Treasurer  and  the  Trustees  for  the 
General  Loan  Office  for  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  in  all 
publick  payments  and  for  any  fund  at  any  time  in  any  of  the 
said  Treasuries  and  Loan  Office.  Dated  at  Philadelphia,  the 
.  .  .  day  of  ....  in  the  year  of  our  LORD 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-three  by  order 
of  the  Governor  and  General  Assembly." 

Upon  them,  about  the  middle  of  the  left  side  were  to 
be  impressed  the  arms  of  Pennsylvania.  Several  sup- 
plements were  passed  during  the  same  year,  amending 
and  qualifying  sundry  sections  of  the  act,  but  are  not 
of  importance. 

So  great  were  the  benefits  that  accrued  to  the  Province 
by  this  addition  to  their  currency,  and  so  immediately 
were  they  felt,  that,  in  December,  a  further  issue  of 
thirty  thousand  pounds  was  ordered  to  be  made  upon  the 
same  terms  as  the  previous  one. 

In  March,*  1725-6,  an  act  was  passed  for  re-emitting 
and  continuing  the  currency  of  the  Bills  as  they  came 

•  March  5. 


10 

back  into  the  Office,  and  for  striking  a  further  sum  of 
ten  thousand  pounds  to  replace  those  that  had  become 
torn  or  defaced.  This  amount  did  not  add  to  the  cur- 
rency in  circulation,  which  remained  as  before  £45,000. 

In  October  a  letter  was  received  by  the  Governor 
from  the  Lords  of  Trade,  &c.,  in  England,  dated  May 
llth,  in  reference  to  the  two  emissions  of  1723,  and 
their  supplements. 

It  set  forth  the  evil  consequences  that  had  .resulted  in 
the  other  colonies  from  the  issuing  of  Bills  of  Credit, 
and  stated  "  that  naught  restrained  them  from  laying 
these  bills  before  His  Majesty  to  be  repealed,*  save 
tenderness  alone  to  the  innocent  holders  in  whose  hands 
they  might  be,  and  if  any  further  acts  were  passed, 
creating  more  Bills  of  Credit,  in  addition  to  those 
already  issued,  means  would  be  taken  to  have  them  dis- 
allowed ;"  and  it  concluded  by  requesting  "  that  the 
funds  appropriated  for  the  payment  of  these  bills  should 
be  duly  applied." 

This  letter  the  Governor  transmitted  to  the  Assembly, 
with  a  message  stating  that  the  act  which  had  passed 
early  in  this  year,  before  its  receipt,  should  be  laid  before 
the  Lords  of  Trade  and  their  approval  secured ;  and  as 
it  did  not  increase  the  existing  currency,  no  objections 
were  made. 

The  bills  soon  become  the  prey  of  rogues,  who  suc- 
cessfully counterfeited  them,  to  an  alarming  extent, 
though  at  the  risk  of  a  severe  punishment.  The  acts 


"  This  in  one  instance  was  actually  done.  An  inordinate  issue  of  paper  money, 
made  by  Barbadoes,  in  1706,  was,  after  several  years  disallowed,  although  the 
bills  had  been  long  in  circulation,  and  great  sufferings  resulted  from  their  repu- 
diation. 


11 

provided  that  counterfeiting  should  be  punished  by  the 
loss  of  both  ears,  by  a  fine  of  one  hundred  pounds,  and 
a  payment  of  double  the  value  of  the  loss  sustained  by 
those  aggrieved  by  the  fraudulent  bills  ;  and  in  case  of 
inability  to  pay  these  sums  the  offender  was  to  be  sold 
into  service  for  seven  years. 

But  this  did  not  prevent  large  quantities  of  fraudu- 
lent paper  from  being  put  in  circulation,  which  appears  to 
have  been  chiefly  manufactured  in  Ireland  and  exported 
hither.  In  New  Jersey  it  was  so  successfully  practised, 
that  within  four  years  after  their  first  emission  it  was 
found  necessary  to  call  in  the  whole,  as  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  discern  between  the  good  and  bad  notes. 

To  remedy  this,  on  the  bills  emitted  by  Pennsylvania 
in  1726,  there  was  ordered  to  be  imprinted  the  figure  of 
a  crown  on  those  of  five  shillings,  of  two  crowns  on  those 
of  ten,  three  on  those  of  fifteen,  and  four  on  those  of 
twenty  shillings.  This  simple  device  was  held  to  afford 
sufficient  protection  against  fraud  in  the  state  of  the  arts 
then  existing  in  the  Province. 

As  the  expiration  of  the  eight  years  drew  near,  the 
term  to  which  the  forty-five  thousand  pounds  had  been 
limited,  great  uneasiness  was  felt  at  the  approaching 
withdrawal  from  circulation  of  so  much  value,  and  it 
was  feared  that  the  Colony  would  soon  be  left  without 
currency  proportioned  to  its  commercial  requirements. 
To  remedy  this,  in  May,  1729,  Patrick  Gordon,  the  then 
Governor,  in  direct  contravention  of  the  instructions  of 
the  Lords  of  Trade,  but  believing  the  great  wants  of  the 
Colony  and  its  real  welfare  to  be  his  sufficient  excuse, 
gave  his  assent 'to  a  law  authorizing  the  issue  of  thirty 
thousand  pounds  in  Bills  of  Credit,  to  be  loaned  upon  the 


12 

same  terms  as  the  former  emissions,  and  to  be  redeemed 
by  the  annual  payment  of  one-sixteenth  part  of  the 
principal,  as  well  as  the  accrued  interest;  and  in  1731, 
on  the  expiration  of  the  time  originally  limited,  the  pre- 
vious issues  were  renewed  by  Act  of  Assembly,  and 
forty  thousand  pounds  in  new  bills  were  ordered  to  be 
struck,  to  be  exchanged  for  bills  emitted  before  August 
10,  1728,  which  bills  were  after  the  firet  of  March, 
1731-2  to  be  irredeemable. 

The  Colony  now  had  a  seemingly  sufficient  currency 
for  its  needs  of  trade,  and  accordingly  not  until  1739  is 
there  a  record  of  other  issues;  in  that  year  it  was  deemed 
advisable  to  call  in  all  the  bills  then  in  circulation,  and 
to  replace  them  with  others  of  a  new  impression. 

A  Committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly  on  the  state 
of  the  currency,  reported  that 

"  In  1723  there  were  emitted,    -    -    £45,000 
Of  which  in  1726  were 
burnt,  £6,110  5s. 

In  1729  there  were  emitted,    -    -     £30,000 
And  that  the  amount  now  in  circu- 
lation, was £68,889  15s." 

which  was  not  deemed  sufficient,  and  a  further  issue  of 
£11,110  5s.  was  recommended.  This  amount  making 
in  all  £80,000  was,  therefore,  enacted  into  a  law. 

Accompanying  this  report  was  the  following  table  of 
the  price  of  gold  and  silver  from  1700  until  that  time  : 


13 

GOLD.  SILVER. 

1700  to  1709          £5 — 10s.  per  ounce.     9s.     Id.      per  ounce. 

1709  to  1720  5— 10s. 

1720  to  1723  5— 10s. 

1723  to  1726  6—  6s.  6rf. 

1726  to  1730  6—  3s.  9rf. 


7*.  5rf. 

8s.  3rf. 

St.  Id. 

St.  9d. 


1730  to  1738  6—  3«.  9rf. 

And  now  in  1739  gold  is  purchased  and  sold  at  £6.  9*.  3d.  per  oz.,  and  silver 
at  8«.  6</.  per  oz. 

Philadelphia,  November  23d,  1739." 

The  punishment  for  counterfeiting  was  now  changed 
to  death,  and  the  former  penalty  was  reserved  for  those 
who  altered  notes  from  lower  denominations  to  higher 
ones. 

During  all  this  time,  the  notes  having  ample  provi- 
sion made  for  their  ultimate  extinction*  circulated 
freely  at  their  value,  superceding  the  bills  of  other 
colonies,  which  had  until  then  constituted  the  chief 
part  of  the  currency.  The  only  persons  who  refused 
them  were  the  Proprietaries,  who  demanded  and  re- 
ceived in  payment  of  their  Quit  Rents  the  difference  of 
exchange  on  England,  and  an  annuity  of  £130  per 
annum  during  the  currency  of  the  notes.  Their  con- 
duct gave  rise  to  much  animadversion,  and  sowed  the 
seeds  of  future  trouble  between  them  and  the  colony. 

No  further  legislation  was  now  needed  until  1744, 
when  a  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds  was  emitted  to 
replace  old  torn  or  ragged  notes;  this  did  not  add  to 
the  gross  amount  in  circulation.  The  Lords  of  Trade 
in  England  had  for  some  time  been  inquiring  into  the 
state  of  the  paper  money  issued  by  the  colonies,  and  in 
answer  to  them  in  1749  a  report  was  prepared  by  a 

*  Of  the  old  £68,889  15*.  there  has  been  destroyed  by  the  State  Treasurer 
£66,966  12s. 


14 

Committee  of  the  Assembly  for  transmission  to  Eng- 
land. It  stated  that  "in  1745  the  currency  of  the 
£80,000  was  continued  for  sixteen  years.  That  in 
1746  a  further  sum  of  £5,000  was  emitted  in  Bills  of 
Credit  for  the  King's  use,  to  go  towards  equipping  the 
Canada  expedition.  That  the  amount  therefore  in  cir- 
culation, £55,000,  was  not  sufficient  for  the  wants  of 
the  colony,"  and  praying  for  a  further  issue  of  notes. 
This,  however,  could  only  be  granted  to  a  limited  ex- 
tent, and  in  October  there  were  emitted  five  thousand 
pounds  to  exchange  for  old  and  torn  notes,  and  to  serve 
for  change.  They  were  therefore  of  small  denomina- 

*/ 

tions,  and  we  find  by  subsequent  Treasurers'  reports, 
from  year  to  year,  that  in  1759  the  last  bills  of  this 
emission  were  entirely  destroyed.*  These  early  notes 
from  1745  and  until  about  1767,  possess  an  interest 
from  the  fact  of  their  having  been  printed  by  Franklin, 
either  alone  or  in  partnership  with  Hall. 

In  1753  began  a  struggle  that  lasted  for  several 
years  between  the  Assembly,  the  representative  of  the 
people  and  their  wants,  and  the  Governor,  the  deputy 
of  the  Proprietaries.  The  very  general  need  of  more 
circulating  medium  led  during  the  session  to  the  fram- 
ing of  several  acts  for  emitting  Bills  of  Credit;  these 
the  Governor  holding  himself  strictly  bound  by  the 
instructions  of  the  Lords  of  Trade  not  to  pass  any  such 
bills  without  a  clause  suspending  their  operation  until 
the  King's  pleasure  should  be  known,  either  refused  to 
assent  to,  or  else  returned  them  with  amendments, 
which  the  House  considering  as  encroachments  on  their 
liberties  refused  to  accept. 

*  Of  the  bills  of  1746  the  last  were  destroyed  in  1757. 


15 

In  February  of  the  following  year,  the  House  adopted 
the  following  resolutions : 

"  1st.  That  it  is  necessary  the  paper  money  of  this  Pro- 
vince should  be  re-emitted  for  a  further  time. 

2d.  That  there  is  a  necessity  of  a  further  addition  to 
the  paper  money  of  this  Province. 

3d.  That  there  is  a  necessity  that  a  sum  should  be 
struck  to  exchange  the  ragged  and  torn  biUs  now  current 
by  Jaw  in  this  Province" 

Accordingly  several  bills  were  successively  prepared 
and  passed  by  the  Assembly,  but  against  which  the 
same  circumstances  operated  to  prevent  their  becoming 
laws. 

In  Augustr  at  a  special  Session  of  the  Assembly,  in 
consequence  of  the  danger  from  the  border  Indians 
being  imminent,  a  bill  for  issuing  £35,000,  whereof 
£15,000  should  go  to  the  King's  use  for  the  protection 
of  the  frontier,  was  passed,  but  amendments  being  there- 
unto added  by  the  Governor,  it  failed  to  receive  the 
sanction  of  the  House. 

In  March,  1755,  a  bill  was  passed,  granting  £30,000 
to  the  King's  use,  to  be  emitted  in  Bills  of  Credit,  for 
the  support  of  Braddock's  expedition ;  this  the  Governor 
returned,  with  a  message  stating  that  the  House,  in 
defiance  of  him,  by  its  mere  resolves  had  put  in  circula- 
tion fifteen  thousand  pounds  in  Bills  of  Credit,  payable  to 
bearer,  and  although  the  House  refuted  this,  by  show- 
ing that  they  were  merely  bills  drawn  on  the  Provincial 
Treasurer*  in  payment  of  stores  for  the  expedition,  yet 
his  assent  was  not  given  to  its  becoming  a  law. 

*  These  bills  appear,  by  subsequent  Treasurers'  reports,  to  have  been  entirely 
destroyed. 


16 

On  the  21st  of  June  the  Assembly  passed  two  bills, 
one  emitting  ten  thousand  pounds  for  exchanging  the  old 
and  torn  bills  then  in  circulation ;  the  other  for  issuing 
fifteen  thousand  pounds,  in  Bills  of  Credit,  for  the  King's 
use. 

In  reply,  the  Governor  acknowledged  the  necessity  in 
the  Colony  of  more  Bills  of  Credit,  but  desiring  to  know 
how  much  of  the  former  appropriation  for  exchanging 
the  old  and  torn  Bills  still  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Trustees — stating  that  at  the  last  settlement  the  sum 
was  £3,302  6s.  Sd.  Being  answered  that  the  amount 
now  remaining  was  £1,302  6s.  &d.,  he  gave  his  sanction 
to  the  act  for  emitting  the  ten  thousand  pounds,  but  to 
the  fifteen  thousand  pounds  act  he  added  amendments, 
which,  not  being  concurred  in  by  the  House,  caused 
its  total  loss. 

A  new  system  of  finance  was  in  these  bills  inau- 
gurated. Heretofore  the  notes  issued  had  been  loaned 
out  at  interest  as  so  much  money,  and  wrere  payable  in 
certain  instalments.  Trade  had  prospered,  imports  had 
increased,  the  notes  themselves  were  eagerly  sought  for 
in  the  other  Colonies;  public  improvements,  stores, 
dwelling  houses,  &c.,  had  been  erected  on  these  loans, 
the  terms  of  which  were  much  more  favorable  than 
could  have  been  obtained  from  a  private  individual,  and 
could  this  course  have  been  for  ever  continued,  loss  by 
depreciation  would  never  have  resulted.  But  the 
exigencies  of  the  Colony  no  longer  permitted  this  cau- 
tious procedure,  that  had  so  greatly  benefited  it.* 

*  This  cautious  policy  had  been  approved  of  in  England,  and  Pennsylvania 
was  exempted  from  the  provisions  of  an  Act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  1751,  to 
restrain  the  Northern  Colonies  from  further  issues  of  paper  money. 

Governor  Pownell  bestows  high  praise  on  this  paper  system  :   "  I  will  venture 


17 

Large  sums  were  required  for  instant  use,  loans  could 
not  be  had,  and  there  were  no  means  of  obtaining  the 
desired  amounts,  except  by  anticipating  the  revenues  of 
the  future  and  emitting  Bills  of  Credit,  to  be  redeemed 
by  taxation  within  given  periods.  The  taxation  was 
the  cause  of  the  struggle  between  the  people  and  the 
Governor,  as  the  lands  of  the  Proprietaries  were  taxed 
in  the  same  manner  as  all  the  others  in  the  Province  ; 
to  this  they  objected,  and  in  their  instructions  to  their 
Deputy,  forbade  him  to  pass  any  law  containing  any 
such  clause.  The  people  believing  that  with  them- 
selves alone  resided  the  right  of  taxation,  strenuously 
and,  in  the  end,  successfully  resisted  this  what  they 
deemed  an  attempted  usurpation  of  their  powers. 

As  their  wants  became  known  the  Legislature  hesi- 
tated less  and  less  to  grant  the  desired  relief,  and  large 
sums  were  voted  from  time  to  time,  for  various  causes, 
to  which  the  Governor,  after  unavailing  struggles  but 
wearied  with  the  long  contest,  was  obliged  to  give  his 
assent. 

After  Braddock's  defeat  sixty  thousand  pounds  were 
raised  for  the  King's  use,  whereof  fifty-five  thousand 
pounds  were  to  be  emitted  in  Bills  of  Credit,  bearing 
date  January  1,  1756,  and  redeemable  by  taxation;  and 
in  August,  1756,  after  the  usual  contention,  an  issue  of 
thirty  thousand  pounds  was  made,  redeemable  in  ten 
years. 

The  public  exigencies  and  the  alarming  situation  of 

to  say,"  he  declares,  "  that  there  never  was  a  wiser  nor  better  measure,  never 
one  better  calculated  to  serve  the  interests  of  our  increasing  country,  that  there 
never  was  a  measure  more  steadily  pursued  or  more  faithfully  executed,  for 
forty  years  together,  than  the  Loan  Office  in  Pennsylvania,  founded  and  adminis- 
tered by  the  Assembly  of  that  Province." 

2 


18 

the  Colony  caused  these  laws  to  be  passed,  notwith- 
standing their  containing  the  objectionable  features. 

In  1757  the  support  of  the  government  obtained  (in 
two  instalments)  an  issue  of  £100,000;  and  in  the  next 
year  a  further  emission  to  the  same  amount  was  made ; 
and  again  in  April,  1759,  a  law  was  passed  issuing 
£100,000  for  the  support  of  the  government  of  the 
Province ;  and  in  June  another,  to  emit  £3.6,650,  to 
re-imburse  the  military  agent  for  the  Colonies  at  Phila- 
delphia.* The  Council  of  the  Governor  objected  to  the 
passage  of  the  latter  act,  not  considering  it  necessary,  as 
there  were  then  in  circulation  bills  to  the  amount  of 
£385,000,  but  being  passed  against  their  dissent,  it  was 
repealed  by  the  King  and  Council  in  June,  1760;  and 
the  larger  act  would  have  shared  the  same  fate,  had  not 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  Robert  Charles,  who  were  at 
that  time  the  agents  in  London  for  the  Province, 
engaged  that  the  Legislature  should  expunge  the  objec- 
tionable clauses,  and  render  the  bill  of  a  proper  nature. 

Between  1760  and  1769,  there  were  issued  £175,000, 
and  during  the  same  period  there  were  destroyed  bills 
to  the  amount  of  nearly  £200,000  ;f  and,  in  1769,  two 
more  issues  added  £30,000  to  the  currency  and  to  the 
debt  of  the  Province.  The  first  issue  of  that  year 
(date  March  1st,  in  amount  £16,000)  was  very  exten- 

*  The  notes  ordered  by  this  law  were  actually  emitted,  and  there  has  been 
destroyed  of  them  about  £35.705. 

•j-  In  1766  an  effort  was  made  to  supply  an  alleged  deficiency  of  the  circulating 
medium  by  emission  of  promissory  notes  by  an  association  of  merchants  of  the 
City  of  Philadelphia.  These  notes  were  to  the  amount  of  £20,000,  of  (he 
denomination  of  £5  each,  with  5  per  cent,  interest,  payable  on  demand ;  and 
although  they  were  declared  by  the  Attorney  General  of  England  not  to  con- 
travene the  laws,  yet,  in  consequence  of  remonstrances  being  presented  to  the 
Assembly,  this  early  attempt  at  banking  proved  abortive. 


19 

sively  counterfeited,  and  in  1773  Governor  Richard 
Penn  issued  a  proclamation  offering  £500  reward  for 
the  detection  of  the  offenders;  of  this  issue,  £15,522 
16«.  have  been  destroyed. 

The  second  issue  was  for  the  aid  of  the  managers  of 
the  Alms  house  in  Philadelphia,  and  is  expressed  on  its 
face  to  be  issued  by  the  "  Treasurer  of  the  Contributors 
for  the  relief  of  the  Poor."* 

In  1771,  great  alarm  was  felt  at  the  hostility  mani- 
fested towards  the  colonies  by  the  French,  and  in  March 
an  act  was  passed  to  emit  $15,000  for  the  defence  of 
Philadelphia;  never  having  been  actually  called  into 
use  for  that  purpose,  the  surplus  was  applied  to  paving 
and  grading  the  streets  of  the  City.f 

The  temptation  to  issue  large  sums,  payable  in  the 
future,  still  hovered  around  the  Legislature,  and  in  the 
following  year  £25,000  were  emitted  for  the  support  of 
the  Government.^ 

In  1773  two  emissions  took  place;  the  earlier, 
amounting  to  £12,000,  and  bearing  date  the  20th  of 
March,  was  for  the  support  of  the  Light  House  at  Cape 
Henlopen,  and  for  the  purpose  of  placing  buoys,  &c.,  in 
the  Delaware  river  and  bay ;  these  notes  bear  on  the 
reverse  a  representation  of  a  light  house  with  ships, 
buoys,  &c.,  and  on  the  face  around  the  sides  are  printed 
the  words  "  Light  House,  Pier,  and  Buoys."  Another 
issue  (in  amount  £6,000)  and  bearing  the  same  devices, 
was  made  in  the  early  part  of  1775. 

The  second  emission  of  this  year  (1773)  bearing  date 

*  Of  this  issue  there  have  been  destroyed  £3,207  Os.  8d. 
f  Of  this  issue  there  have  been  destroyed  £9,924  10s. 
J  Of  this  issue  there  have  been  destroyed  £9,416  Os.  2d. 


20 

October  1,  to  the  amount  of  £150,000,  is  only  remark- 
able on  account  of  recurrence  being  made  to  the  old  Loan 
Office  system  j  but  the  times  had  changed,  and  the  device 
was  no  longer  a  fortunate  one. 

The  next  noticeable  issue  is  that  dated  April  the 
10th,  1775,  and  was  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  jail 
in  Philadelphia ;  it  bears  on  its  reverse  a  representation 
of  that  building,  which  was  the  edifice  long  known  as 
"The  Walnut-street  Prison."  These  notes  are  com- 
monly, but  incorrectly  believed  to  represent  the  Inde- 
pendence Hall. 

The  early  notes  of  the  Colony  seem  to  have  kept  their 
credit  well,  and  had  not  the  Revolution  intervened, 
they  would  all  have  been  redeemed  at  par,  as  ample 
funds  were  always  provided  by  taxation  or  excise 
duty,  in  the  same  act  that  issued  the  bills  for  their  gra- 
dual but  certain  extinction ;  and  in  the  annual  reports 
presented  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  Colony  to  the  Assem- 
bly, mention  is  always  made  of  Bills  of  Credit  brought 
in  and  destroyed. 

But  the  battle  of  Lexington  aroused  the  Colony.  On 
the  30th  of  June,  1775,  a  Provisional  Government  was 
appointed  by  the  Assembly,  called  a  <k  Committee  of 
Safety"  to  look  to  the  defence  and  arming  of  the  Colony  ; 
and  to  carry  into  effect  the  objects  of  their  appointment, 
the  Assembly  resolved  to  emit  the  sum  of  £35,000  in 
Bills  of  Credit,  to  bear  date  July  20th,  1775.  The 
mere  issuing  of  these  bills  was  an  act  of  rebellion,  as 
they  were  emitted  by  the  mere  resolve  of  the  Assembly 
in  defiance  of  their  charter,  and  without  reference  to 
the  Governor ;  and  yet  these  notes,  and  those  issued  by 
resolution  of  Nov.  18th,  same  year,  (bearing  date 


21 

Dec.  8,)  and  of  April  8,  1776,  (date  April  25,)  still 
hold  in  its  accustomed  place  the  name  of  "  his  Majesty, 
King  George  the  Third." 

Long  afterwards  these  bills  were  known  and  spoken 
of  in  Acts  of  Assembly  as  "  the  resolve  money,"  taking 
the  name  from  the  circumstances  of  their  issue. 

In  March,  1777,  it  was  resolved  to  emit  £200,000  for 
the  support  of  the  army,  and  here  the  authority  of 
"  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania"  appears  for  the 
first  time.*  Various  laws  had  been  passed  from  time 
to  time  to  call  in  the  bills  emitted  during  the  dominion 
of  Great  Britain,  and  in  1778,  Congress  requested  the 
States  to  end  the  currency  of  notes  issued  prior  to  the 
19th  of  April,  1775,  as  they  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  persons  unfriendly  to  the  new  Government  who  held 
them,  and  made  a  discrimination  in  their  favor,  believ- 
ing that  they  would  ultimately  be  redeemed,  whether 
the  subsequent  ones  were  or  not ;  by  this  means  causing 
the  notes  issued  by  the  authority  of  Congress  and  of  the 
several  States  to  depreciate  in  value.  Accordingly  on 
the  23d  of  March,  1778,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act 
declaring  such  notes  no  longer  to  be  a  legal  tender  after 
the  first  of  June,  but  that  until  that  time  they  might 
be  received  at  the  treasury  in  payment  of  taxes,  in  ex- 
change for  later  notes,  &c.  In  the  case  of  non-residents, 
the  time  for  presenting  them  was  extended  to  the  first 
day  of  August ;  and  by  a  subsequent  act,  the  issue  of 
September  30th,  (date  Oct.  25th,)  1775,  of  £22,000  for 
the  support  of  the  Government  was  included  within  its 
provisions. 

*  These  notes  seem  to  be  of  two  varieties ;  one  being  printed  in  red  ink,  the 
other  in  black. 


22 

Previous  to  this,  Pennsylvania  had  by  a  law  passed 
in  January,  1777,  made  the  Congress  issues  a  legal 
tender,  and  had  imposed  penalties  on  refusing  to  receive 
them,  and  on  counterfeiting  or  altering  them. 

In  March,  1780,  the  State  emitted  £100,000  for  the 
support  of  the  army,  and  to  provide  a  fund  for  their 
redemption  the  Executive  was  empowered  to  sell  cer- 
tain properties  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  as  well  as 
Province  Island  in  the  township  of  Kingsessing  :*  so 
well  have  these  provisions  been  carried  into  effect  that 
not  a  vestige  of  the  notes  now  remain.  The  act  under 
which  these  notes  were  issued  is  a  striking  example  of 
how  the  most  consummate  tyranny  may  be  exercised 
by  even  the  most  zealous  devotees  of  liberty ;  not  con- 
tent with  making  them  a  legal  tender,  with  declaring  a 
refusal  to  take  them  an  acquittance  of  the  debt,  by  a 
supplement  passed  in  the  following  December,  they  in- 
flicted upon  the  first  offence,  a  fine  in  value  of  double 
the  sum  offered ;  and  upon  the  second,  imprisonment  to 
last  during  the  war,  together  with  confiscation  of  one- 
half  of  the  offenders  lands,  goods  and  chattels. 

About  the  same  time  Congress  passed  a  resolution 
calling  on  the  States  to  contribute  in  certain  propor- 
tions towards  the  support  of  the  Government,  and  for 
that  purpose  they  were  to  emit  notes  of  a  certain  fixed 
form,  the  same  for  all  the  States,  bearing  interest  and 
redeemable  in  six  years,  of  which  as  well  as  of  the 
principal  the  United  States  guaranteed  the  payment, 
and  "  would  draw  bills  of  exchange  therefor  when  there- 
unto requested."  Accordingly  in  June,  Pennsylvania 

*  These  bills  became  known  as  "the  Island  money"  from  that  circumstance. 


23 

emitted  $1,250,000  in  notes,  that  long  after  bore  the 
name  of  "  the  dollar  money"  In  May,  an  act  had  been 
passed  to  receive  the  old  continental  money,  at  one 
dollar  in  specie  for  forty  in  notes,  and  this  emission  was 
to  be  issued  as  specie  on  that  basis. 

In  October  a  scale  of  depreciation  was  adopted,  and 
certificates  of  pay  due  to  the  Pennsylvania  Line,  founded 
thereon,  were  issued,  receivable  in  payment  for  the  Public 
Lands,  and  the  depreciation  was  ordered  to  be  ascer- 
tained and  published  every  month  in  the  Philadelphia 
Gazettes.  In  April,  1781,  the  following  scale  of  the 
depreciation  of  paper  compared  with  silver  and  gold  was 
adopted  by  the  Legislature  : 

1777      1778        1779        1780         1(81 

January 1J  4  8  40£  75 

February 1£  5  10  47£  75 

March 2  5  10J  61J  00 

April 2£  6  17  61J    .        00 

May 1\  5  24  59  00 

June 2J  4  20  61J  00 

July 3  4  19  64£  00 

August 3  5  20  70  00 

September 3  5  24  72  00 

October 3  5  30  73  00 

November 3  6  38J  74  00 

December 4  6  41$  75  00 

And  at  the  same  time  jive  hundred  thousand  pounds 
were  ordered  to  be  emitted  for  the  support  of  the  army, 
of  which  £200,000  were  to  replace  the  issue  of  1777, 
and  the  old  currency  at  the  depreciated  value 
according  to  the  scale.  Ample  funds  were  pledged  to 
the  redemption  of  this  issue,  and  according  to  the  report 
of  the  State  Treasurer  in  1805,  there  remained  out- 
standing and  unredeemed  only  £4,140  3s.  Id.  By  this 


24 

act,  (1781),  the  dollar  was  now  legally  rated  at  seven 
shillings  and  sixpence. 

In  June  the  old  Continental  bills  and  the  "  resolve 
money"  were  declared  to  be  no  longer  a  legal  tender, 
and  could  be  received  only  at  the  Treasury  and  at  their, 
current  value.  Acts  were  passed  from  time  to  time  to 
facilitate  the  calling  in  the  Bills  of  Credit,  and  to  increase 
the  objects  for  which  they  could  be  received  in  payments 
at  the  Treasury. 

In  1783  a  small  issue  of  Treasury  notes  took  place, 
which  has  been  entirely  redeemed,  and  no  further  emis- 
sion was  made  until  March,  1785,  when,  after  a  long 
discussion,  and  the  rise,  as  in  other  States  about  the 
same  time,  of  a  paper  money  party,  the  great  need  of  a 
currency  led  to  the  striking  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds  in  Bills  of  Credit,  to  be  loaned  out  as 
former  issues  had  been  ;  funds  sufficient  were  set  apart 
for  their  redemption^  and  ,£20,000  were  directed  to  be 
annually  destroyed,  yet,  confidence  was  not  placed  in 
them,  and  so  rapid  a  depreciation  ensued,  that  shortly 
afterwards  a  supplementary  act  was  passed  to  call  them 
in  much  sooner  than  had  been  originally  designed. 

The  withdrawal  of  these  notes  was  expedited  by  the 
issue  of  certificates  of  State  Loan,  in  exchange  for  them 
and  th"e  old  Continental  Loan  Office  certificates,  which 
was  the  beginning  of  the  present  fiscal  history  of  the 
State.  Of  this  issue  the  report  of  the  State  Treasurer, 
in  1805,  states  that  the  whole  amount  has  been  redeemed 
except  the  sum  of  £2,792  8s.  Id. 

By  the  act  of  December  the  4th,  1789,  the  "resolve 
money"  and  the  issue  of  1777,  were  no  longer  to  be 


received  at  the  Treasury  after  the  first  of  January,  1791, 
thus  entirely  destroying  their  vitality. 

From  time  to  time,  in  1792,»1793  and  1794,  acts  were 
passed  to  facilitate  the  redemption  of  the  issues  of  1785, 
of  1781,  and  "  The  Dollar  Money;"  and  the  final  dispo- 
tion  of  the  subject  was  made  by  an  act  passed  on  the 
fourth  of  April,  1805,  which  recited  that  "as  now  suffi- 
cient time  had  been  allowed  for  the  redemption  of  the 
Bills  of  Credit  of  this  Commonwealth,  that  all  such  bills 
outstanding  and  not  paid  into  the  Treasury  before  the 
second  Tuesday  in  January,  l&Qft,  should  be  forever  irre- 
deemable" 

This  is  believed  to  be  the  last  legislation  in  Pennsyl- 
vania upon  this  subject. 

Some  persons,  holders  of  the  notes,  cherishing  the 
fond  hope  that  the  State  would  ultimately  redeem  her 
obligations  at  the  value  expressed  on  their  face,  neglected 
or  refused  to  present  them  at  the  Treasury,  before  the 
expiration  of  the  time  limited  for  their  redemption  at 
the  depreciated  rates  fixed  by  law ;  it  is  principally  to 
this  circumstance,  that  the  present  generation  is  indebted 
for  the  many  specimens  of  the  financiering  schemes  of 
former  days. 


CATALOGUE 


OF    THE 


ISSUES  OF  PEXmiTASIA  BILLS  OF  CREDIT, 

COMPRISING   THEIR 

AMOUNTS,  DENOMINATIONS,  AND  THE  NAMES  OF  THE 
PERSONS  APPOINTED  TO  SIGN  THEM, 

FROM   1723   TO   1785. 


CATALOGUE. 


1723. 
March  23,  XI 5, 000. 

6,000  notes,  each  of  20s.,  10s.,  5*.,  2s. 
4,000  do          15s.,  2s.  &  Qd. 

8,000  do          Is. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Charles  Read,  Benjamin  Yining, 
Francis  Rawle,  and  Anthony  Morris. 

December  12,  £30,000. 

18,000  notes,  each  of  20s. 

8,000  do  15s. 

5,000  do  10s. 

6,000  do  5s.,  2s.  &  Qd.,  2s. 

4,000  do  Is.  &  Qd. 

7,000  do  Is. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Francis  Rawle,  Charles  Read, 
Anthony  Morris,  and  Samuel  Hudson. 

1726. 
March  5,  £10,000. 

5,000  notes,  each  of  10s. 


20,000 

do 

5s. 

8,000 

do 

2s.  Qd. 

3,000 

do 

2s. 

10,000 

do 

Is.  Qd. 

9,000 

do 

Is. 

To  be  signed  by  Evan  Owen,  John  Wright,  Thomas  Tresse. 


30 

1729. 
May  10,  (date  of  note,  September  15,)  £30,000. 

15,000  notes,  each  of  20s. 

2,000  do  15s. 

12,000  do  10s.,  2s. 

16,000  do  5s. 

4,000  do  2s.  6d. 

17,000  do  Is.  Qd. 

10,500  do  Is. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Thomas  Tresse,  Edward  Homer, 
John  Parry,  and  Abraham  Chapman. 

1731. 

February  6,  to  re-emit  and  continue  the  original  .£45,000,  arid 
to  strike  £40,000  thereof  in  new  bills. 

4,000  notes,  each  of  Is.,  Is.  6d. 

5,000  do  2s. 

8,000  do          2s.  6d.,  15*. 

12,000  do          5s. 

10,000  do          10s. 

24,000  do          20s. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Job  Goodson,  John  Parry, 
Joseph  Kirkbride,  and  Thomas  Griffiths. 

1739. 
May  1st,  (date  of  note,  August  10,)  £80,000. 

10,000  notes,  each  of  Is.,  Is.  6d.,  2s.,  2s.  6d. 
30,000  do  5s. 

40,000  do          10s. 

20,000  do          15*. 

34,000  do          20s. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Thomas  Leech,  William  Mon- 
nington,  Abraham  Chapman,  Joseph  Harvey,  and  Samuel 
Smith. 


31 

1744. 
May  26,  £10,000. 

20,000  notes,  each  of  Is.,  Is.  6d.,  2s.,  2s.  Qd. 
12,000  do  5s. 

To  be  signed  by  James  Morris,  Abraham  Chapman,  and 
Peter  Lloyd. 

1746. 
June  24,  £5,000. 

30,000  notes,  each  of  4d.,  Qd.,  9<i. 
2,625  do          20s. 

All  below  20s.  to  be  signed  by  two,  and  the  20s.  to  be  signed 
by  three  of  James  Morris,  John  Hall,  Joseph  Harvey,  and 
James  Mitchell. 

1749. 
February  4,  £5,000. 

60.000  notes,  each  of  3d.,  4d. 

60.001  do          6d. 
46,066            do          9d. 

To  be  signed  by  one  of  John  Jervis,  William  Trotter,  Joseph 
Hamton,  John  Davis,  and  James  Webb. 

1755. 
June  28,  (date  of  note,  October  1,)  £10,000. 

6,000  notes,  each  of  10s. 

10,000  do          5s.,  2s.  Gd.,  2s.,  Is.  6d.,  Is.,  9<£,  Qd. 

11,000  do          4d. 

15,000  do          3d. 

Bills  of  Is.  and  upwards  to  be  signed  by  three,  and  below  Is. 
to  be  signed  by  one  of  Evan  Morgan,  Joseph  Fox,  James  Pem- 
berton,  Hugh  Roberts,  John  Reynell,  Joseph  Wharton,  John 
Smith,  Isaac  Greenleaf,  Isaac  Jones,  Thomas  Crosby,  Daniel 
Williams,  Charles  Jones,  Samuel  Hazard,  Samuel  Roads,  Joseph 
Morris,  Samuel  Sansom,  Edward  Pennington,  Thomas  Clifford, 
William  Grant,  Thomas  Say,  Joseph  Saunders,  Joseph  King, 


32 

Owen   Jones,    Jonathan   Evans,    William   Logan,    and  Samuel 
Burge. 

1756. 
January  1,  ,£55,000. 

15,000  notes,  each  of  20s. 

20,000  do  15*.,  10s.,  5s.,  Is. 

30,000          do  2s.  Qd.,  2s.,  Is.  Qd. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Evan  Morgan,  John  Baynton, 
Thomas  Crosby,  Thomas  Wharton,  Joseph  Marriott,  Daniel 
Roberdeau,  Atwood  Shute,  Samuel  Neave,  Charles  Steadman, 
Jonathan  Evans,  Edmund  Kearney,  John  Taylor,  William  Grant. 
Amos  Strettell,  Samuel  Morris,  Jacob  Duche,  Thomas  Gordon, 
Charles  Meredith,  Redmond  Conyngham,  Daniel  Benczet,  Wil- 
liam Fisher,  George  Okill,  Abel  James,  Joseph  King,  William 
Vanderspiegel,  Joseph  Redman,  William  Shippen,  William  Grif- 
fitts,  Enoch  Flower,  Henry  Harrison,  Charles  Jones,  Isaac 
Pascall,  Thomas  Davis,  and  Jacob  Lewis. 

1756. 
September  21,  (date  of  note,  Oct.  1,)  £80,000. 

12,000  notes,  each  of  5s.,  10«.,  15s.,  20s. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  William  Grant,  Joseph  Rich- 
ardson, James  Benezet,  Samuel  Wharton,  Daniel  Rundle,  Joseph 
Wharton  Jr.,  Peter  Chevalier,  William  Hopkins,  Stephen 
Wooley,  Joshua  Howell,  Joseph  Galloway,  George  Bryan, 
Charles  Thompson,  Isaac  Pascall,  Charles  Jones,  John  Sayre, 
Francis  Rawle,  Thomas  Wharton,  Joseph  Saunders,  Peter  Reeve, 
Joseph  Morris,  Samuel  Smith,  John  Rhea,  Thomas  Smith,  Jacob 
Cooper,  William  Fisher,  Joseph  Redman,  and  Luke  Morris. 

1757. 

March  10,  £45,000. 

18,000  notes,  each  of  20*.,  15*.,  10s.,  5s. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Henry  Harrison,  Peter  Reeve, 
Joseph  Morris,  William  Morris  Jr.,  Buckridge  Sims,  James 


Child,  Stephen  Carmick,  Thomas  Clifford,  Thomas  Bourne, 
John  Swift,  John  Rhea,  John  Ord,  Edward  Duffield,  Matthew 
Clarkson,  Thomas  Say,  Thomas  Carpenter,  Thomas  Moore, 
James  Wharton,  John  Hughes,  John  Lynn,  Plunket  Fleeson, 
Samuel  Howell,  George  Emlen,  and  Joseph  Hillborn. 

June  17,  (date  of  note,  July  1,)  £55,000. 

22,000  notes,  each  of  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s. 
To  be  signed  by  three  of — Joseph  Morris,  Charles  Thompson, 
Henry  Harrison,  Charles  Meredith,  John  Ord,  Thomas  Clifford, 
Joseph  Richardson,  Thomas  Wharton,  Edward  Pennington, 
Charles  Jones,  Joseph  Redman,  Thomas  Davis,  Richard  Wistar, 
Thomas  Gordon,  Joseph  Hillborn,  William  Morris  Jr.,  Francis 
Rawle,  Samuel  Burge,  Evan  Morgan,  William  Fisher,  Thomas 
Say,  John  Lynn,  James  Humphreys,  Joseph  Stretch,  and 
Plunket  Fleeson. 

1758. 
April  22,  (date  of  note,  May  20,)  ,£100,000. 

38,000  notes,  each  of  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s. 
14,285          do  2s.  6ci,  2s.  Is.  6<Z. 

14,290          do  Is. 

To  be  signed  by  three  of — Peter  Reeve,  Henry  Harrison, 
James  Wharton,  William  Fisher,  William  Hopkins,  George 
Bryan,  Charles  Jones,  Joseph  Wharton  Jr.,  Joseph  Saunders, 
Joseph  Morris,  Samuel  Morris,  Charles  Thomson,  Joseph  Stretch, 
Joseph  Marriott,  Thomas  Moore,  Thomas  Carpenter,  Evan 
Morgan,  Luke  Morris,  Thomas  Clifford,  Peter  Chevalier,  Daniel 
Williams,  James  Benezet,  Daniel  Rundle,  Thomas  Gordon, 
Stephen  Wooly,  James  Humphreys,  Matthew  Clarkson,  John 
Ord,  James  Child,  Samuel  Wharton,  John  Hughes,  Thomas 
Yorke,  and  Charles  Humphreys. 

1759. 
April  17,  (date  of  note,  April  25,)  £100,000. 

10,000  notes,  each  of  £5,  £2  10s.,  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Peter  Reeve,  Henry  Harrison, 
3 


34 

Joseph  Saunders,  Joseph  Morris,  Charles  Thomson,  Joseph 
Stretch,  Evan  Morgan,  Thomas  Clifford,  Daniel  Williams, 
Thomas  Gordon,  John  Ord,  Thomas  Tilbury,  Robert  Bully, 
Richard  Pearne,  Joseph  Marriott,  Peter  Chevalier,  James 
Wharton,  Charles  Jones,  Samuel  Morris,  Luke  Morris,  James 
Child,  and  James  Humphreys.  « 

June  21,  £36,650. 

4,886  notes,  each  of  £5,  50s. 
Signed  by  Charles  Thomson,  Luke  Morris,  Samuel  Rhoads. 

In  the  Record  Book  of  the  Laws  there  are  given  no  particu- 
lars relative  to  this  act. 

This  act  was  repealed  in  June,  1760,  but  the  notes  are  believed 
to  have  been  issued  before  the  repeal  was  known. 

1760. 
April  12,  (date  of  note,  May  1,)  £100,000. 

£5,  50s.,  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s.,  known  to  exist. 

In  the  Record  book  of  the  Laws  no  particulars  of  this  act 
are  given. 

1764. 
May  30,  (date  of  note,  June  18,)  £55,000. 

3d.,  4<Z.,  Qd.,  9<Z.,  Is.,  Is.  6d.,  2s.,  2s.  Qd.,  5s.,  10s., 

15s.,  20s.,  known  to  exist. 

In  the  Record  book  of  the  Laws  the  particulars  of  this  act 
are  not  given. 

1767. 
May  20,  (date  of  note,  June  15,)  £20,000. 

2,000  notes,  each  of  £6. 
1,000  do          £4. 

2,000  do          40s. 

To  be  signed  by  Joseph  Fox,  Isaac  Pearson,  and  Joseph  Gal- 
loway. 


35 

1769. 
February  18,  (date  of  note,  March  1,)  £16,000. 

3,000  notes,  each  of  £3. 
4,000  do  30s. 

1,000  do  12s. 

•     1,000  do  8s. 

To  be  signed  by  Joseph  Fox,  Isaac  Pearson,  and  Joseph  Gal- 
loway. 

1769. 

February  18,  (date  of  note,  March  10,)  £14,000.  "  Relief  of 
the  Poor." 

10,000  notes,  each  of  20s.,  15s. 
2,000  do          10s. 

5,000  do          5s. 

12,000  do          2s.  Gd. 

20,000  do          2s. 

30,000  do          Is.  Gd.,  Is.,  9d.,  Gd.,  Id.,  3d. 

Bills  under  Is.  to  be  signed  by  one  of  and  overs,  by  three  of 
Joseph  Fox,  Samuel  Rhoads,  Luke  Morris,  Jacob  Lewis,  Thomas 
Say,  Samuel  Burge,  Abel  James,  Stephen  Collins,  James 
Penrose,  John  Parrock,  Joseph  Wharton  Jr.,  and  Charles 
Thompson. 

1771. 
March  9,  (date  of  note,  March  20,)  £15,000. 

6,000  notes,  each  of  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s. 
To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Joseph  Morris,  William  Fisher, 
Joshua  Howell,  Luke  Morris,  Daniel  Roberdeau,  Isaac  Cox, 
Jacob    Shoemaker   Jr.,    Francis  Hopkinson,  Stephen    Collins, 
Joel  Evans,  Robert  Strettell  Jones,  and  Thomas  Mifflin. 

1772. 

March  21,  (date  of  note,  April  3,)  £25,000. 
5,000  notes  of  40s.  each. 

33.962  do      2s.  Gd.,  2s.,  Is.  Gd.,  Is. 

9d.,  6d.,  3d.,  each. 

33.963  do      4d. 


36 

Bills  under  Is.  to  be  signed  by  one  ;  of  Is.  and  over  to  be 
signed  by  three  of  John  Morton,  Charles  Humphreys,  John 
Sellers,  Isaac  Cox,  Joseph  Sims,  Thomas  Clifford,  Thomas 
Coombe,  Thomas  Fisher,  Samuel  Pleasants,  Joseph  Dean, 
Joseph  Swift,  Cadwallader  Morris,  Clement  Biddle,  Joel  Evans, 
Anthony  Morris  Jr.,  Samuel  Howell  Jr.,  Adam  Hubley,«John 
Mifflin,  Joseph  Pemberton,  Samuel  Hudson,  James  Wharton, 
Jeremiah  Warder  Jr.,  Benjamin  Wynkoop,  and  Samuel  Coates. 

1773. 

February  26,   (date  of   note,   March    20,)  £12,000,   "Light- 
house" &c. 

6,000  bills,  each  of  4s.,  6s.,  14s.,  16s. 

To  be  signed  by  three  of  Jacob  Winey,  Charles  Jervis,  Ben- 
jamin Shoemaker,  Henry  Keppele  Jr.,  Frederick  Kuhl,  and 
John  Steinmetz. 

February  26,  (date  of  note,  October  1,)  £150,000. 
28,300  notes,  each  of  50s.,  20s.,  15s.,  10s. 

28.318  do          5s.,  2s.  6df.,  Is.  &  Qd. 

28.319  do          2s. 

To  be  signed  by  any  three  of  Stephen  Carmick,  Charles 
Meredith,  George  Emlen  Jr.,  Alexander  Todd,  Joseph  Pemberton, 
Samuel  Miles,  Owen  Jones  Jr.,  Joseph  Mifflin,  Benjamin  Mor- 
gan, Barnaby  Barnes,  William  Fisher  Jr.,  William  Wistar, 
Abraham  Usher,  Reynold  Keen,  John  Field,  Jacob  Harman, 
Mordecai  Lewis,  Isaac  Wharton,  William  Wishart,  Richard 
Willing,  Benjamin  Marshall,  Samuel  Fisher,  James  Hartley,  and 
Joseph  Allen; 

Supplement  December  13,  1774,  appoints  the  following  addi- 
tional signers : — James  Stephens,  Thomas  Leech,  Benedict 
Dorsey,  William  Crispin,  John  Lownes,  and  Robert  Tuckniss. 

1775. 

March  18,  (date  of  note,  March  25,)  £6.000,  "Light-house,"  &c. 
3,000  notes,  each  of  4s.,  6s.,  14s.,  16s. 


37 

To  be  signed  by  three  of  James  Wharton,  Richard  Vaux, 
Ezekiel  Edwards,  William  Wishart,  Charles  Wharton,  and 
Samuel  Coates. 

March  18,  (date  of  note,  April  10,)  £25,000,  "Prison." 

•     3,833  notes,  each  of  £5. 
3,334          do  50*. 

To  be  signed  by  Lindsay  Coates,  Job  Bacon,  and  Edward 
Roberts. 

Resolution,  June  30,  (date  of  note,  July  20,)  £35,000. 
7,000  notes,  each  of  10s.,  20*.,  30s.,  40s. 

To  be  signed  by  three  of  Sharp  Delany,  Lambert  Cadwalla- 
der,  Isaac  Howell,  James  Mease,  John  Benezet,  Samuel  Cad- 
wallader  Morris,  Adam  Hubley,  Thomas  Prior,  Godfrey  Twells, 
John  Mease,  John  Purviance,  and  William  Allen  Jr. 

September,  30,  (date  of  note,  October  25,)  £22,000. 

6,000  notes,  each  of  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s. 

15.849  do  2s.  Gd.,  2s.,  Is.  6d.,  Is.,  9<i,  4d.,  3cf. 

15.850  do  Qd. 

Bills  under  Is.  to  be  signed  by  one  ;  of  Is.  and  over  by  three 
of  Francis  Johnston,  Thomas  Shoemaker,  Charles  Jervis, 
Thomas  Tilbury,  Philip  Kinsey,  John  Knowles,  Isaac  Howell, 
Abel  Evans,  and  Richard  Humphreys. 

Resolution,  November  18,  (date  of  note,  December  8,)  £80,000. 
16,000  notes,  each  of  10s.,  20s.,  30s.,  40*. 

To  be  signed  by  three  of  Matthew  Clarkson,  William  Cris- 
pin, William  Smith,  Thomas  Leech,  Joseph  Redman,  William 
Kenly,  Josiah  Hewes,  Andrew  Tybout,  George  Douglass,  Charles 
Moore,  Abel  Evans,  Thomas  Moore,  Peter  Thomson,  Samuel 
Cadwallader  Morris,  Cornelius  Barnes,  Sketchly  Morton,  Elisha 
Price,  and  Nicholas  Fairlamb. 


38 

1776. 
Resolution,  April  6,  (date  of  note,  April  25,)  £85,000. 

54.545  notes,  each  of  3d.,  Qd. 

54.546  do  4d.,  Qd. 
28,572  do  Is.,  2s. 
28,571  do  Is.  Qd.,  2s.  Qd. 
14,000  do  10s.,  20s.,  80s.,  40s. 

Bills  of  od.,  4:d.,  Qd.,  Qd.,  to  be  signed  by  one,  of  Is.,  Is.  Qd., 
2s.,  2s.  Qd.,  by  two,  the  others  by  three  of  William  Smith,  Ben- 
jamin Betterton,  Joseph  Redman,  William  Clifton,  Sketchly 
Morton,  Josiah  Hewes,  William  Crispin,  Andrew  Tybout,  George 
Douglass,  William  Kenly,  Charles  Moore,  Thomas  Moore,  Abel 
Evans,  Peter  Thomson,  Elisha  Price,  Hugh  Lloyd,  and  Samuel 
C.  Morris. 

1777. 
March  20,  (date  of  note,  April  10,)  £200,000. 

150,000  notes,  each  of  3d,  4d,  Qd.,  Qd. 
30,000  do          Is.,  Is.  Qd.,  2s.,  3s.,  4s.,  6s.,  8s., 

12s.,  16s.,  20s. 
12,670  do          40s. 

12,665  do          80s. 

Every  bill  under  4s.  to  be  signed  by  one,  above  4s.  by  two,  of 
Benjamin  Betterton,  John  Young  Jr.,  William  Thome,  Andrew 
Hodge,  William  Kinley,  Isaac  Howell,  Caleb  Davis,  Joseph 
Gardner,  James  Cannon,  Whitehead  Humphreys,  Benjamin 
Jacobs,  William  Evans,  Levi  Budd,  Isaac  Snowden,  John  Brown, 
William  Will,  Philip  Alberti,  Henry  Luithausen,  Samuel  Smith, 
Frederick  Antis,  Robert  Loller,  James  Davidson,  Joseph  Par- 
ker, and  Michael  Shubart. 

1780. 

March  25,   (dated  April,)  £100,000.     To  purchase  provisions 
for  the  army. 

8,696  notes,  each  of  60s.,  50s.,  30s.,  20s.,  15s.,  10s.,  5s. 

8,694  do          40s. 


39 

To  be  signed  by  two  of  Daniel  Wistar,  Levi  Budd,  Philip 
Boehm,  Robert  Gather,  Jedediah  Snowden,  William  Laurence 
Blair,  Charles  Lewis  Treichel,  John  Miller,  Joseph  Watkins, 
John  Knox,  Nathan  Jones,  and  William  Thome. 

June  1,  (according  to  Resolution  of  Congress,  March  18,) 
$1,250,000.  $1,  |2,  $3,  H  $5,  $7,  $8,  $20. 

To  be  signed  by  two  of  Michael  Shubart,  Daniel  Wistar,  Levi 
Budd,  Philip  Boehm,  Robert  Gather,  Jedediah  Snowden,  Wil- 
liam Laurence  Blair,  John  Miller,  John  Knox,  and  Nathan 
Jones. 

Congress  appointed  to  sign  for  the  TJ.  S.,  any  one  of  Thomas 
Smith  and  Richard  Bache. 

1781. 

April  7,  (date  of  note,  April  20,)  £500,000. 

29,077  notes,  each  of  £5,  £3,  £2  10s.,  £2,  £1 10.?.,  £1. 
29,076  do          15s.,  10s. 

40,000  do          5s.,  2s.  6d.,  2s. 

20,000  do  Is.  Qd.t  Is. 

80,000  do          9d.,  6c?.,  3df. 

Below  10s.  to  be  signed  by  one,  of  10s.  or  over,  by  two  of 
Cadwallader  Morris,  Samuel  Meredith,  James  Budden,  Joseph 
Wharton,  Joseph  Bullock,  Samuel  Caldwell,  Michael  Shubart, 
David  H.  Cunningham,  Jacob  Barge,  Philip  Boehm,  John  Pur- 
viance,  Joseph  Dean,  John  Miller,  Jonathan  Mifflin,  Isaac 
Howell,  Richard  Bache,  John  Baynton,  Tench  Francis,  David 
Shaffer  Sr.,  Thomas  Prior,  Robert  Knox,  John  Mease,  Jacob 
S.  Howell,  and  John  Patton. 

By  an  Act  passed  January  31,  1783,  the  following  amounts 
were  directed  not  to  be  completed  : 

20,000  notes,  each  of  5s.,  2s.  6df.,  2s.,  Is. 
40,000  do          9d.,  6<Z.,  2>d. 

Amounting  to  £13,500. 


40 

1783. 
March  21,  $300,000. 

Treasury  notes,  of  $J,  $1,  $2,  $3,  $6,  $12,  $15,  §20. 

1785. 
March  16,  (date  of  note,  March  16,)  £150,000. 

54,546  notes,  each  of  3d!.,  9cZ.,  Is.  Qd.,  2s.  Qd.,  5s.,  15s. 
54,545  do  10s.,  20s. 

Bills  of  10s.  and  over  to  be  signed  by  three,  all  the  others  by 
two,  except  the  Qd.  and  3c?.  by  one,  of  John  Chaloner,  William 
Turnbull,  George  Latimer,  Reynold  Keen,  Andrew  Tybout, 
Edward  Fox,  James  Collins,  Peter  Baynton,  William  Smith, 
(druggist),  Samuel  Murdoch,  James  Bayard,  Joseph  Redman, 
Robert  Smith  (merchant),  John  Rhea,  William  Gray  (brewer), 
William  Tilton,  Francis  Wade,  Thomas  Irwin,  Charles  Risk, 
Andrew  Pettit,  James  McCrea,  John  Taylor,  Samuel  Caldwell, 
Stacy  Hepburn,  and  John  Duffield. 

A  Supplement  of  September  10th  appointed  the  following 
additional  signers : 

Levi  Budd,  George  Leib,  John  Baker,  William  Wertz,  Francis 
Mentges,  Joseph  Kerr,  John  Miller,  James  Glentworth,  John 
Steel,  George  Goodwin,  Joseph  Marsh,  Henry  Kammerer, 
Michael  Shubart,  and  Robert  Bridges. 


262 


